How important are Scientific Theories?

This is the second to last AP of our SENIOR YEAR! I can't believe it. Last unit, we learned all about what we currently know of our Planet's Oceans. And, for this unit, we took a little adventure into the great beyond - into Space. We learned about the formation of our Universe, the various theories surrounding that formation, and the Theory of General Relativity (gravity). We learned about the early years of our Earth and its atmosphere, we learned about the early explanations of our Universe and the astronomers who created them - some being Ptolemy (Geocentric model), Copernicus (Heliocentric model), and Kepler (Heliocentric model). We also discussed why Space is so difficult to explore because of its vast size, which led to learning about the ways that we have been able to view other planets, universes, and atmospheres using telescopes and other forms of un-manned technology. Additionally, we looked into current threats to earth, like Space debris, and what the future of our Universe may look like. For this project, we were to write another research paper, centered around a question that we focused that research on. I decided to base my research on the importance of Scientific theories, and I geared it towards the theories of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which I learned about from reading our course book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Below, you will see my paper, and I hope you enjoy!

How important are Scientific Theories?

Scientific Theories obviously hold value in the understanding of our world, otherwise they would not exist. In fact, they hold so much value that there are many that are used to explain the meaning of our whole Universe. There are theories that explain how our Universe formed, the contents that make up our Universe, and even for how those contents interact. Once they pass certain criteria, we often follow them blindly, when most of the time, we don't even fully know if they are true or if the contents that some discuss, are even out there. However, since it has yet to be disproven and it makes so much sense in its explanation of our natural world, we think 'it must be true', and wait until the day that it is debunked. Two theories that science finds so important, are the theories of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. We still know very little about them, however, what we do know is that coming to fully understand them will help us predict the entire future of our Universe. So, a question that must be asked is how much value do the theories of Dark Matter and Dark Energy hold in our Scientific world?

The first thing to understand is what exactly a Scientific theory is. According to the Field Museum, a Scientific Theory is a speculative explanation for phenomena occurring in our natural world, constructed carefully using the Scientific Method, and, "...which brings together many facts and hypotheses (an idea that we can test with further scientific observations)". So, in short, a theory is not yet a fact, it is a collection of speculation that has further to be studied and has yet to be disproven. A theory must meet several criteria before it is properly recognized. The Field Museum generally explains the process as follows: 1. A scientist makes an observation of a natural phenomenon, 2. They devise a hypothesis for the potential explanation of such phenomenon and further tests this hypothesis by collecting data or designing experiments, 3. If the tests show that that hypothesis is incorrect, the scientist will develop a new hypothesis to test, 4. If the original hypothesis is corroborated (by the data), it will be retained and passed on for further scrutiny, and finally 5. If it survives external scrutiny, the hypothesis may be applied to a larger theory that explains such observed phenomenon and/or relate it to other phenomena. 

After the creation of Scientific theories, comes testing the importance and relevance of them. The ultimate goal for a Scientist is to create a theory that is applicable to modern Science, and that is eventually replaced or revamped with another theory. The NIH says that, "The reason a ‘good’ theory should be testable, be coherent, be economical, be generalizable, and explain known findings, is that all of these characteristics serve the primary function of a theory--to be generative of new ideas and new discoveries." Theories leave room for Scientists to have an explanation for observed phenomena, while not fully knowing everything about it. It allows for the cycle of Scientific explorations to continue so that we will always learn new and 'updated' information about our Universe. There are so many theories out there that Scientists are still testing, however, two that stand out are the theories of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, due to how little we know about them, yet how much of our Universe that they explain. 

Dark Matter

Dark Energy

We can thank Fritz Zwicky for the discovery of Dark Matter and Albert Einstein for Dark Energy. Little is still known about either but a short overview from Astrology.com states that Dark matter slows down the expansion of the universe while Dark energy speeds it up. Dark Matter is the invisible attractive force that exerts gravity, also known as the "cement of the universe", and Dark Energy is the repulsive force in the Universe, or the 'anti-gravity'. They also state that, "Dark energy is the far more dominant force of the two, accounting for roughly 68% of the universe's total mass and energy. Dark matter makes up 27%, and the rest - a measly 5% - is all of the regular matter we see and interact with, every day."

NASA states, "We are much more certain of what Dark Matter is not than we are of what it is." We know that it is not observable (it does not take any physical form), it is not made up of normal matter particles, it is not antimatter, and finally, it does not take the form of any black holes that we have observed. In terms of Dark Energy, we know that it is the mysterious force that counteracts gravity and causes the universe to expand at a different aging rate than what we are used to. It causes it to expand at an accelerating rate, rather than slowing down and it exists in the vacuums of space and also in time. The existence of the whole idea of Dark Energy is heavily dependent on Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, which outlines how everything in the Universe moves under the influence of Gravity. Dark Energy is important because its idea encompasses Einstein’s equations of General Relativity and the functions of the universe - it helps to calculate the past, present, and future of the cosmos and its expansion. 

 

So, what does the future of the Universe look like due to Dark Matter and Dark Energy? Well, there are currently 4 predictions for the fate of the universe. First, there is the Closed Universe, also known as "The Big Crunch", which would be if the actual mass density was greater than the critical mass density of the Universe, causing the Universe to expand, slow down, stop, and eventually collapse back onto itself - essentially Dark Matter taking over. Second, is the Flat Universe. This would be if the actual mass density of the Universe equaled the critical mass density, causing the Universe to expand forever, however it wouldn't have infinite expansion like with Dark energy, it would eventually slow down and become cold and 'dead'. Third is an Open Universe, where the actual mass density is less than the critical mass density, so the Universe would continue to expand with no change in its rate of expansion. And finally, there's the Accelerating Universe, which is Scientists' current and most logical prediction. This is the effect of Dark Energy and Dark Matter on the Universe, wherein it acceleratingly expands, but is kept intact due to Dark Matter. 

In conclusion, Scientific Theories make a huge impact on understanding our world. They help us to create rational explanations for things that we still might not know everything about. Specifically, Dark Matter and Dark Energy, the little that we know about them, gives us a glimpse of the inner workings of our Universe. Once we begin to fully understand them, it can help us learn about what has happened before us and what will happen after us, in the Universe, which is why they are so important. 

Sources

Betz, Eric. “What's the Difference between Dark Matter and Dark Energy?” Astronomy.com, 3 Mar. 2020, https://astronomy.com/news/2020/03/whats-the-difference-between-dark-matter-and-dark-energy#:~:text=In%20short%2C%20dark%20matter%20slows,%2C%20absorb%2C%20or%20emit%20light. 

“Dark Energy, Dark Matter.” NASA, NASA, https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy#:~:text=But%20it%20is%20an%20important,than%205%25%20of%20the%20universe. 

ET;, Higgins. “Making a Theory Useful: Lessons Handed Down.” Personality and Social Psychology Review : an Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15223513/. 

In Which Way Does Dark Matter Determine the Fate of the Universe? https://www.researchgate.net/post/In-which-way-does-dark-matter-determine-the-fate-of-the-Universe. 

Kangielczyk. “What Do We Mean by ‘Theory’ in Science?” Field Museum, 22 May 2018, https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/what-do-we-mean-theory-science#:~:text=A%20theory%20is%20a%20carefully,together%20many%20facts%20and%20hypothese. 

Blog conclusion 

I really enjoyed this unit. I am a lot more interested in Space than I am of our Oceans, because it is so much more infinite. It fascinates me how much of it we might never reach because it is so vast, but I love to see our estimates of them. This paper was harder for me to write than the last one, just because we didn't have the primary research aspect, and I had less motivation to write this time around. I chose this topic because of how interesting I find the fact that we can base all of our understanding of the Universe on something that has yet to be proven. Overall, I think I did a good job on this project, though I do feel that I should have put more time into it to receive feedback. 

I didn't know so many words began with 'Anal'...

This was the AP for unit 2 of our Humanities class, Endurance. So far, our central focus has been on personal journeys and the meaning of what it takes to endure hardships and challenges. A key term from this unit was Katabasis. Katabasis means, "diving into your underworld", and it is all about finding your way through the dangers around you and it encapsulates the very meaning of endurance. We read stories about individuals who had made their own personal missions and learned about their processes of getting through them. An example is a documentary (called maiden trip) that we watched about a 14-year-old girl from Holland, who voluntarily sailed around the world by herself - it took her 2 years. Another was a magician named David Blaine, who tried to break the world record for having no oxygen in one setting - he made it to 17 minutes. Both of these were a choice, but we also learned about journeys of endurance that were not voluntary. We read Night, a book by Elie Wiesel, written about his perspective and journey of surviving several death camps with his father, during the Jewish Holocaust. We also watched Schindler's List, which gave us a very real perspective of what it took to endure such times and a glimpse of the horrors that humanity can impose on one another. After we gained enough context, we moved into creating our own missions, otherwise known as our Kautilya plan. Our challenge was to document 12-hours of us completing an activity or reaching some sort of goal of our choice. 

For my challenge, my goal was to become more knowledgeable, so I started thinking of ways I could do that and then it clicked - I could read a dictionary! I originally was going to use the Oxford Dictionary, since that was the most popular one that I had heard of. However, when I went to purchase it, it was $100 so I just settled on the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which was just as good and it was only about $5. I connected this back to when I was in homeschool and I set off to start my journey. I found so many words that I either didn't know/didn't know existed, or that I thought had the potential of me using them, and I was able to get through letters A, B, and C. I asked myself a couple of questions along the way and had many times to reflect. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and I definitely feel like I had the chance to broaden my vocabulary. I enjoyed finding words that I thought were funny and making several connections - one discovery I made was the seemingly enormous list of words that began with 'Anal'. I don't know why that just made me laugh and it lead me to be so much more interested in what I was doing. Below, you will be able to see my daily log, my vocabulary notes, as well as my Kautilya plan video. Enjoy!